• Published 29th Sep 2012
  • 4,101 Views, 230 Comments

Weakness of the Flesh - totallynotabrony



Vampire Cheerilee has a new student

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Chapter 13

The hard deadline Princess Luna had set quickened her pace. She was not rushing, wary of traps, but it was still important to end this as soon as possible. It was unfortunate that she didn’t know how deep the cave might be, but based on the sorcerer’s previous habits he would probably show himself sooner rather than later.

Hearing a patter of sounds behind her, Luna risked a glance back. A soft glow showed along the dark tunnel, gradually resolving itself into Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn was leading her friends with a light from her horn illuminating the cave.

“What are you doing here?” shouted Luna, forgetting her goal for a moment.

Twilight came to a sudden halt, not expecting the Princess’ anger. “We came to help, with the Elements of Harmony!”

Luna hesitated. She’d descended into the cave alone for a reason. Nopony else stood a reasonable chance against a sorcerer who was powerful and vicious enough to command an army of undead. At the same time, the Elements of Harmony were the greatest force for good that Equestria had.

The Princess of the Moon turned, her coat rippling. “Come along, but stay behind me.”

The group continued forward, even more quickly now. Any element of surprise Luna might have been able obtain by herself was now gone. Around a corner up ahead, something moved.

Luna charged, lighting up her horn with energy. She galloped ahead, the low ceiling preventing her from flying even faster. As soon as somepony showed themselves, the Princess fired a bolt of magic.

The target tumbled like a ragdoll, ending up in a heap. Luna pulled up short, staring at what she had done. The dead pony had been so for a while.

All of them suddenly heard the clattering hooves of somepony running very fast in the opposite direction. Luna’s lips twisted into a snarl. “Coward.”

▼▼

“How much time do we have left?” asked Golden.

From her position under the white pegasus, Cheerilee turned her head to read a timepiece Princess Luna had left with the explosives. “Three minutes.”

“I think that’s just long enough to finish,” said the younger pony.

“Not if you don’t hurry,” chuckled Cheerilee. She winced. “Hey, a little more gently.”

“I can be quick or I can be gentle. Just let me take care of this.” Golden lowered her head to nuzzle Cheerilee’s chest again. The lavender mare lay back, gritting her teeth. She gasped as Golden moved.

“There,” said the pegasus. “How was that?”

“Is that it?” asked Cheerilee.

The pegasus spit out a sliver of wood. “Almost.”

“I understand that Twilight was a little distracted, but it wasn’t very nice of her to leave the rest of these splinters in me when I came in through the library roof,” Cheerilee grumped.

Golden dug another shard out from under the other mare’s skin. “That might be the last of them. Some were pretty large.”

Cheerilee got up, rubbing the healing wounds in her chest where she’d been carrying pieces of Twilight’s home. From inside the cave, there came the sound of running hooves. They sounded large and heavy, not like a mare.

The lavender pony stiffened. “I think we might have a problem. Get ready.”

The first time Cheerilee had encountered Skull, it had ended in a sound defeat. If he was leaving the cave because he had managed to kill a Princess, a dragon, and the six Elements of Harmony, she wasn’t sure if blowing up the entrance with him inside would effectively trap the sorcerer. Besides, getting the timing for something like that correct while the stallion was running towards her would be difficult. Well, that was too bad. The schoolteacher planted her hooves, staring into the darkness at the mouth of the caverns.

Skull, when he appeared, dropped his head and built magic in his horn for an attack on the mare in front of him. Cheerilee clenched her jaw and set her mind. If she was truly the last thing in the sorcerer’s way, then she would stand up to him with everything she had.

The spell hit Cheerilee much like a train would have, if the train tried to scrape her flesh from her bones in addition to crushing her. It was the most painful thing she’d ever experienced and the schoolteacher shrieked in pain as her hooves slid backwards with the force.

It was a good thing Cheerilee didn't need to breathe, because moving any muscle on her body would hurt. She forced her head up, staring with fire in her eyes at the onrushing unicorn.

The realization that the lavender mare was still standing surprised Skull so much he never expected Golden to drop out of the sky and stab him with one of the jagged pieces of wood she’d pulled from her teacher. The two of them ended up in a writhing, bloody pile.

The older vampire stumbled over, legs nearly non-functioning. Skull’s eyes went wide with panic and he tried to throw off the pegasus holding him down. Cheerilee scented the blood from his wound, and after being on the receiving end of the necromancer’s magic, it smelled great.

“I really shouldn’t take so much pleasure in this,” Cheerilee said, sizing up the stallion’s throat as a target for her fangs. “We all have our weaknesses, I suppose.”

When Princess Luna and her contingent arrived shortly thereafter, Skull was quite dead. And messily decapitated.

Twilight stepped away before she lost the contents of her stomach. The rest of her friends took similar precautions. Spike retched, gagging as if he got a fireball stuck in his throat.

Luna shook her head and forced an unsteady smile. “Cheerilee, usually I like you to clean up after yourself, but I think I’ll lend some help this time.”